FORESTS AND RANGES OF THE MIDDLE ZONE 75 



numerous jungle fires. The road, cut out just wide enough 

 for horses and foot passengers to wind a zigzag along the 

 ridges, or dip into lesser valleys, only to climb again to the 

 tops of similar ridges, was anything but a straight one : 

 but was fairly good and monotonously picturesque. 

 Occasional villages nestled in hollows, or on slopes with 

 terraced fields, and streams ran in water-courses for irriga- 

 tion, or trickled down their rocky channels, or turned 

 primitive corn-mills. The houses of the Kumaon peasants 

 are of stone, roofed with shingles or flags, with small 

 balconies and verandahs not unlike those of many parts 

 of Switzerland ; and the people looked fairly well-to-do, 

 cleanly clad in white cotton garments, the women working 

 hard in the fields while the men smoked their hookahs 

 and nursed the babies. Their lithe figures are well 

 proportioned, and their carriage erect, from carrying loads 

 on their heads. 



At Gangoli Hat we put up at a dak bungalow, where is 

 a magnificent sacred grove of deodar trees. Coming out 

 of the glaring sun, you find yourself suddenly almost in 

 darkness, under the shade of a dense canopy of almost 

 black foliage, the great stems of the oldest trees standing 

 close together, surrounding an ancient shrine. The 

 younger trees cluster on all sides like the children of the 

 old patriarchs, which look as if they might be 3,000 years 

 old, so massive are their giant boles. 



The bark of the older trees is black, lined out with 

 silvery cords, and the stems give the idea of great strength 

 from their perfect proportions and great spreading roots, 

 while the younger trees, with glistening feathery tops, 

 make an agreeable contrast. It is like entering a great 

 cathedral, cool and restful, most impressive : there is no 

 sound but the musical murmur of the light air in the 

 branches high overhead, and even the flies do not bustle 



